I used to have several pairs of hats and ended up selling them to buy a new snare and this pair of hats. I do not regret selling a back up hat as this pair does everything I want it to in almost every situation.

I am feeling the urge to buy a new set of different hats for a spare, but I know these would just get used more than the spare so why bother? Dark but cutting sound. Thick and brash but not abrasive. Naturally bright with darker undertones. Great for fusion and hard rock. Fast chicks and piercing sticking makes for great recording and live hats. Open sound is a little sloshy but you learn to live with it and play with them accordingly.

I went from using zildjian zbt hi-hats to these, and i am amazed at the sound quality. They give the player so much control over the sound they make. They're beautiful; I don't plan on using any other hi-hat!

I use these in the 14" size as a pair of auxillary hats (mounted on an Axis x-hat...always closed). They are perfect for what I use them for: An extra voice when riding on two cymbals...one being the Meinl hats, the other either my China type or main ride. Nice wash when mounted partially open. Trashy.....a touch dry....an extremely unique sound. but very, very musical at the same time. These hats would certainly work as your main hats. Nice compliment to my 20" Sabian HH China type. Meinl is absolutely high quality. A great sound for the money!!

Ive been looking around for a great pair of hats to replace my ZBT's, and after hours of listening to sound demos on the internet, these were in my top 3. The only problem was, i couldnt find them anywhere. This weekend i walked into a random drum store in NYC, and out of nowhere there they were!! As soon as i played them, i knew they were the right hi hats for me. There a little dark, but not over the top. They are so complex and sound great tight and even better half opened. Overall they sound amazing. Im happy i got the 14", and I will be enjoying them for years to come.

These are Amazing cymbals. I picked these up at my local guitar center after researching what kind of hats I should get. They sound great. The Salesman had me compare them next to a pair of K custom hybrids, and they were the clear winner. There was one set of mastersounds in the store that even came close to these. I also use an AAX Stage Hats and the Byzance have twice the cut.Beefy chick, big stick sound, and crunchy/full semi-opened sound. Clear, dark and loud fully opened.My only problem; I tried to clean some marks from the store, and afterwards I didn't want one circle to look different from the rest of cymbal, plus it looked cool with dark hammer marks and bright unhammered section, so I cleaned the whole bottom Hat. When I wiped the Groove juice off,80% of the cymbal turned an almost ashy pink color. I can't change the color back by any means. Luckily, it was the bottom side and I'll just have to wait for it to re-oxidize. The top looks Gorgeous.

These hats are some of the most musical cymbals I've ever played or heard. They are very expressive; depending on your technique and stick placement these hats range from crisp and dry to wet and gritty. The open bell sounds are clear and totally usable. Foot chicks are defined but not sterile. The slightly open sizzle on these hats is one of the coolest features of all. You can get a smooth, glassy sizzle by sticking across the top of the hats and you can get a gritty, overdriven crunch out of them by sticking across the lip. In general, these hats have a ton of character and produce sounds to die for. They're the only cymbals in my entire (substantial) setup that I'd immediately buy again if they were lost, damaged or stolen. Why are you still reading... go buy these hats!

Great sticking definition, devoid of piercing high tones that offend my ear on so many other cymbals. Anytime I play other hats I come back to my Darks and enjoy them all the more for their diverse, rich sound and musicality. They are beautiful to look at as well.

These hats have a great dark sound, not too dry, but with plenty of stick definition and a complex mix. Loads of texture. I could use these hats for the lightest to the hardest of rock, and they would still feel at home. They are very dynamic. Definitely worth the money.